[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 82 (Thursday, May 27, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S4522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of National 
Foster Care Month, a time to recognize and shine a light on the needs 
of our foster children in Arkansas and across the U.S. and to highlight 
the countless men, women, and families who work tirelessly on their 
behalf.
  Arkansas has more than 3,500 children in foster care. It is 
imperative that we ensure their safety and well-being and work to find 
them a permanent family to provide the love and support they need and 
desire. That is why I have introduced my Child Welfare Workforce Study 
Act, which will help identify the barriers that prevent children and 
families from accessing the essential services they need. It will also 
better ensure that necessary steps are taken to recruit and retain a 
quality and experienced workforce that can effectively address the 
needs and risks of our Nation's most vulnerable children and the 
families that provide them care.
  With thousands of children in Arkansas seeking nothing but a safe and 
stable family to provide them comfort and security, we have a 
responsibility to ensure that families are adequately prepared to 
provide them with the care and supervision they deserve. These families 
should be appropriately supported and equipped with the resources they 
need.
  Our current system is burdened by the ongoing challenges of 
recruiting and retaining enough families to care for and welcome these 
children into their homes, and experienced caseworkers to effectively 
manage their cases. We have children slipping through the cracks, and 
that is simply unacceptable. We need to create an environment that best 
provides for the well-being of these children and that most effectively 
helps them find a loving and permanent home.
  I have also introduced the Resource Family Recruitment and Retention 
Act, which establishes much-needed standards of consistency in agency 
and state policies for foster and adoptive care. It also calls on 
agencies to follow best practices proven to increase and retain the 
number of foster, adoptive and kinship parents. These practices include 
efforts to allow foster parents to actively participate and have input 
in the case-planning and decisionmaking process regarding the child; to 
receive complete and timely responses from the agency; and to receive 
support services and appropriate training that will enhance the skills 
and ability of resource parents to meet their children's needs. 
Finally, the bill establishes a grant program to better allow states to 
develop innovative methods of education and support for families.
  As lawmakers, it is our role to honor the critical role that foster 
families play in the lives of foster youth and provide them with the 
services and the support they need. Foster children seek nothing more 
than a safe, loving and permanent home, and resource families often 
help address this need. By strengthening efforts to recruit and retain 
these families, we also enhance our best recruitment tool, and retain 
prospective adoptive resources.
  As members of this body, we have an obligation to do right by those 
whom we represent each and every day. We also have a moral obligation 
to do everything we can on behalf of the most vulnerable in our 
society. For the over 500,000 children in foster care and the many 
thousands of families who have provided them with the love and support 
they desperately need, it is the least we can do.

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